Erosive contractors under pressure as consumer regulator sounds alert
ADEW Director Feyona Austin-Paul.
Kaieteur News – With the interests of home builders in mind, the Competition and Consumer Affairs Commission (CCAC) yesterday officially launched its Home Builder Roadmap, to empower consumers with the right information they need to make the right decisions they need in building their homes.
The roadmap divides this information into six stages – land acquisition, planning with the architect; approve the plan; choosing a contractor; finance and the construction phase.
ADEW Director Feyona Austin-Paul noted that one of the reasons for the development of the roadmap was that “users should not be disenfranchised in any event, whatever the situation and there should be no breaches of the law. . ”
“An analysis of complaints brought to the ADEW about domestic construction, along with other unofficial reports has revealed consumer abuse through poor work done by contractors in this industry, which can be considered a threat to consumer safety , ”Mrs. Austin-Paul said.
He added that the Commission acknowledged that “providing proper source was not sufficient, we needed to take an ex-ante approach by empowering consumers to make wise decisions before and even during the construction process.”
He noted that the construction industry in Guyana is important; it accounts for more than seven percent of GDP since 2008, and is integral to Guyana’s national development strategy.
One challenge, however, said Mrs. Austin-Paul, “is the lack of qualified human resources and the access to competent human resources by consumers.”
He noted that the sector was developing rapidly, and more people were building homes as the Government focused on providing affordable housing.
“ADEW intends for this initiative to run alongside this objective, by ensuring that consumers get value for money. Building your own home is not an easy task and costly, whether with cash or securing a mortgage, some form of financing and we put our confidence in the hands of building contractors and expect that they would have our best interests at heart, about our safety and spending our money wisely and optimally, ”said the Director.
He also noted that, through this roadmap, home builders will have access to the processes and methods of building or renovating their homes; the correct legal procedures of the various processes; information about the relevant authorities and the required documentation for each stage of the process.
Austin-Paul added that she recognizes the importance of the roadmap of personal experience. “I realized there was a lack of information; as a consumer, you didn’t know what you had to do, and that’s what makes us vulnerable. When you don’t have the information, you don’t have the power, so we want to empower consumers, we want to put the power of information in the hands of consumers; we want them to be proactive themselves so when they join this discussion game, they have the information as well. “
Consumer Affairs Officer (ag) Rusante Perry said the Consumer Affairs Act requires defective contractors to repair, replace or reimburse customers. Failure to do so will result in them being called to the Board of Commissioners for a hearing.
He said the CCAC receives an average of 25 complaints a year about the construction industry at an average of ten million dollars. Ms Perry said the Commission had been able to resolve 70 per cent of complaints so far with them being resolved at the investigation level.
He added that the Commission intends to aggressively promote the roadmap through various media and collaborate with agencies such as the Ministry of Housing where hard copies of the roadmap will be available.
The roadmap was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Housing and Water, the Guyana Institute of Architects, the Mayor and City Council, Neighborhood Democratic Councils and consultations with legitimate contractors, commercial banks, insurance companies and other relevant agencies.
The Home Builder Roadmap can be accessed online at ccac.gov.gy.